Canadian Opera Company Theatre Presents POMEGRANATE Is A Lesbian Love Story For The Ages

A contemporary, time-shifting love story takes centre stage at the Canadian Opera Company this spring, as the company presents the world premiere of Pomegranate by composer Kye Marshall and librettist Amanda Hale.

The co-production from Vancouver Opera imagines two women's enduring love across the ages and will be featured as a Major Cultural Event as part of Pride Toronto 2023, contributing to the wide array of events available to the 2SLGBTQ+ community through the month of June. Pomegranate runs for three performances on June 2, 3, and 4, 2023 at the Canadian Opera Company Theatre at 227 Front St. E.

The Canadian Opera Company Theatre is a dedicated theatrical space for sharing work that is often new, contemporary, and original, opening up space for fresh voices, as well as those unheard or traditionally underrepresented in the opera canon.

Pomegranate follows Suzie and Cass, young lovers who desire nothing more than to openly express their feelings for each other, but are trapped in the social boundaries of their time. Time proves fluid in the opera's storyline as narrative flows from a women's temple in ancient Pompeii to Toronto in 1981, in the aftermath of the city's infamous Bathhouse Raids. As the couple struggles to repair their love in the face of homophobia and an impossible ultimatum, fragments of memory endure, revealing a transcendent love for the ages.

Pomegranate draws its inspiration and origins from a collection of poems Hale published in 2007; they were set to music by Marshall and presented as a song cycle at Toronto's Heliconian Club in 2014 and, later, as a chamber opera at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.

"The audience response to Pomegranate's evolution from chapbook poems to full-fledged production has convinced me that opera is a powerful medium for social and political change," says Hale. "Once begun, the collaboration between Kye and myself united us like co-parents of a brilliant and sometimes difficult child. Throughout the years, we have helped each other by believing we are creating something special, now realized as a unique and polished new opera, giving important visibility to lesbian love."

In a nod to their own lived experience, Hale and Marshall set the opera's latter half in a real-life gathering spot in 1980s downtown Toronto: the Fly By Night, run by Pat Murphy, a local feminist and lesbian activist. Murphy was famously one of the Brunswick Four, a group of women arrested for singing "I enjoy being a dyke" in the city's Brunswick House pub, and Pomegranate's creators pay tribute to her legacy and social impact in the characters of Jules the Bartender and The Priestess.

"In both acts of this opera, there is an illusion of safety for women," says Marshall. "When we started revising this opera for the Canadian Opera Company a couple of years ago, it felt like gay and lesbian and queer rights in North America had been established and that we were relatively safe from threats of violence and persecution and that the message of this opera was no longer needed. How wrong we were. I believe, in our current climate, the message of this opera is needed even more. We cannot take for granted our right to love who we chose."

Canadian-Bulgarian mezzo-soprano Adanya Dunn and New York-based soprano Danielle Buonaiuto (they/she) star as the lovers Suli/Suzie and Cassia/Cass, respectively. Dunn has been featured by The Globe and Mail as one of six Canadian women "turning opera on its head and making the future bright for the art form" while Buonaiuto has been praised for "ethereal vocals" that reveal "exquisite vocal technique and luscious colors" (OperaWire). Edmonton-based mezzo-soprano Catherine Daniel joins the cast, bringing the "smoky allure" of her voice (Opera Canada) to the role of Livia and Suzie's Mother opposite Ensemble Studio alumni Peter Barrett as Marcus and Suzie's Uncle Salvatore and Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野 (they/them) as The Priestess and bar owner Jules; Barrett was last featured in the COC's digital presentation of Gianni Schicchi in 2021 and last year Kasahara created and starred in the world premiere presentation of The Queen In Me at the Canadian Opera Company Theatre.

Canadian director Jennifer Tarver has worked in theatre and opera for over 25 years, having staged productions for major companies that include Tarragon Theatre, Canadian Stage, Nightwood Theatre, and the Stratford Festival. In Pomegranate, Tarver has reshaped the narrative to present Pompeii as a world that has been conjured out of necessity for the young lovers. "It's the fantasy of a very young woman who struggles to find place for her love (with another woman) in the reality of 1980s Toronto," Tarver explains.

Dora Award-winning set designer Lorenzo Savoini has created an environment of effortlessly shifting landscapes; monolith concrete arches evoke ancient architecture and urban textures, while patterns on the sunken floor were inspired by specific Pompeii locations depicted in the libretto. Additional fantastical elements are expressed by designer Kimberly Purtell's lighting of arches from below. Costumes from designer Andjelija Djuric was inspired by the murals of the Villa of Mysteries and particularly by the silhouettes of the women, with their signature red backgrounds outlined in black; for Pomegranate, she embraces the striking contrast between the opera's settings, blending authentic 1980s vintage pieces with boldly stylized ensembles reminiscent of ancient Pompeii to create an evocative contemporary aesthetic.

Composer Kye Marshall is a professional cellist and brings an extensive background in composing jazz and classical music to the score, to be led by acclaimed Canadian conductor and current Music Director of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra Rosemary Thomson. Thomson leads members of the COC Orchestra through Pomegranate's lush and textured score that sees orchestral music slide from the ancient sounds of harp accompaniment to modern jazz and blues to the keyboard sounds synonymous with the 1980s. Price Family Chorus Master Sandra Horst leads members of the COC Chorus through the opera's ensemble pieces that features an upbeat disco number.

Pomegranate is performed in English.

Cast and Creative Team

Suli/Suzie

Adanya Dunn

Cassia/Cass

Danielle Buonaiuto

Livia/Suzie's Mother

Catherine Daniel

Marcus/Uncle Salvatore

Peter Barrett

The Priestess/Jules

Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野

Composer

Kye Marshall Librettist Amanda Hale

Conductor

Rosemary Thomson

Director

Jennifer Tarver Assistant Conductor Jennifer Tung Assistant Director Marie-Josèe Chartier

Set Designer

Lorenzo Savoini

Costume Designer

Andjelija Djuric

Lighting Designer

Kimberly Purtell

Intimacy Coordinator and Fight Director

Siobhan Richardson

Price Family Chorus Master

Sandra Horst

Stage Manager

Kate Porter

With the COC Orchestra and Chorus

Single tickets for Pomegranate are $75 for adults, $35 for Opera Under 30 tickets, and $15 for patrons under the age of 15. Tickets can be purchased online at coc.ca or by calling the Canadian Opera Company Box Office at 416-363-8231. For more information, please visit coc.ca.